Because of Him
by Socrates7727
Summary: Since the fire, Derek has dealt with everything short of an apocalypse. Finally, he's found a little sliver of happiness and peace in his new boyfriend-Stiles. But in Beacon Hills, nothing can be that good for very long. Kate returns, thirsty for her drug of choice: Derek's pain. With Stiles missing, Derek will do anything to get him back. Rated T for swearing. Derek/Stiles enjoy!


Author's Note: One-shot with Protective!Derek. Please no flames & enjoy!

Disclaimer I do not own Teen Wolf or any of it's characters, etc!

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Kate grinned at him, sharpened canines glistening with blood. She stood, stepping lightly over the body on the ground in front of her, and smirked. With three steps, she was in front of Derek and sizing him up with hungry eyes. The shrinking of her pupils said even now, she wanted to fuck the shit out of him; the predatory glow, though, mixed that lust with wanting to rip his throat out with her teeth. He didn't blink.

He recognized that look. Derek remembered it all too well and, ironically. it churned more fear in the pit of his stomach than actually seeing Kate did. It was the look she'd given him the first time she'd made a move-he could still remember the feel of her lips. And how easily he'd mistaken her forcefulness for passion, not the greed that it was. That hunger he'd thought was for him, for a teenage boy who didn't know better, for the Derek Hale people had loved-not for his power.

It was the same gleeful, carnivorous look she'd had the first time they'd had sex-when she'd taken his virginity. Because she knew she held a power over him no one else did. It was the possessive glare when his mother had gotten too close, and the coaxing when he'd been warned away from her. It was the look he knew, deep in his bones, she'd had on when she watched the flames engulf his home-his family. It was the look of a predator staring down it's prey.

For years he'd been on the receiving end of that look, her prey. Until she'd gotten what she wanted from him. He'd let himself believe it was love, that the hunger in her eyes was a craving to be with him and that the manipulation was just in his head. They'd told him Argents couldn't be trusted but he wanted to believe the best in people-she'd exploited that. Derek had thought that, after all those years of hating her and hating himself, he'd escaped that look-escaped feeling like her prey. But there it was.

"Hello again sweetie." He winced internally at the pet name he hadn't heard in years. That had been another manipulative trick, too, he'd learned. She called him sweetie, especially after the fire before he'd found out who was to blame, because she knew it was what his mom had called him and his sisters. She knew he took comfort in the nickname-and she'd tainted it.

"Katherine." Unfortunately, she wasn't phased by her full name and it didn't catch her off guard like he'd hoped it would. But then, when did hoping ever change anything? Instead of reeling, she scanned up and down his body, lingering where his shirt no longer covered and undressing the rest of him with her eyes. He felt naked, vulnerable-like somehow she could still hurt him.

"Oh sweetie," she laughed. "Don't pretend that I can't get to you. That you don't relax at my voice, don't miss what we had, don't still cherish our time together. I was your first, after all. And judging by your mood the last few years, your only." Derek didn't blink. Even when he felt the pack around him, confusion from some and pity from others. If he showed her any reaction, it would only encourage her.

"Tell me sweetie, how's Stiles?" His stomach dropped. "Taking care of your love? Making sure he's safe? Protecting the one weakness you have?" Derek's eyes flared red against his will and he felt heart rates around him rise in fear.

The entire pack had doubted his control with Kate from the beginning. Even though he was the only one she agreed to meet with, the pack had tried to hold him back. She got under his skin and she did it well-they all knew that-but he couldn't help it. Out of everyone he'd ever trusted, ever lost, ever loved, no one had managed to tear him apart so completely or so eagerly. But why just Stiles? Deep inside him in parts he didn't even know he had, he didn't want to know the answer. The pack didn't know yet; that meant Kate couldn't know yet either, right?

"My pack is fine, Katherine." She smiled even wider at the general term-pack. Derek knew she hated being called Katherine and it was antagonizing her but, just like him, she refused to show it. They were very similar, actually, and he never would've admitted it but that terrified him.

"I didn't ask about them, sweetie. I asked about Stiles." Again, she pushed Stiles and not the pack. Was it because he was the only human? The most vulnerable of them? That had to be it. Right?

His eyes were still fiery red and he knew it. He prayed that the pack would assume it was because of Kate and the veiled threat, not the target of it. But of course Kate somehow knew and she was reveling in it. How she knew? That was something Derek could only obsess over later, never knowing the answer.

She hadn't even been in town long enough to have noticed anything, let alone do surveillance on him. But then, he hadn't been exactly careful either. Only three days ago, he'd spent the entire day and night locked in his apartment alone with Stiles-celebrating their one month anniversary. He cursed himself for it now because he knew what it looked like. It was stupid but he'd let himself get caught up in it the way Stiles had told him to and he'd forgotten everything he was supposed to worry about. For an entire twenty four hours, he'd just existed with Stiles.

With his boyfriend, Stiles.

They'd agreed not to tell the pack-not yet. It was theirs and theirs alone. And now Kate was threatening to take that away.

"You still paying attention, sweetie?" Kate's sickeningly sweet, crooning voice only made his gut clench tighter and churn in anger.

"What do you want, Kate?" She smiled at him, completely ignoring the fighting and the bodies dropping around them.

"Don't pretend, sweetie. We both know you're the big, bad wolf and you're missing your little red riding hood. Admit it, you're worried." Derek forced his hands into fists and dug his claws into his palm. He hadn't done that since he was a teenager, still learning control.

Piece of shit. Not Kate, though she was certainly on a similar level of absolute human (or mostly human) scum-him. Three days ago he'd celebrated the happiest month of his life and he'd put Stiles in danger because of it. Because of him, Stiles was going to get hurt if not worse. Because of him. Because of him, because of him, because of him. Dammit Derek! If just once in his life he could've managed to keep someone he loved from getting hurt-because of him.

And hell if he wasn't too damn familiar with those words. Because of him, almost his entire family burned to death in a house that was supposed to be their sanctuary. Because of him, Laura was murdered despite actually starting to rebuild herself and her life. Because of him, everyone he'd ever loved had suffered. And now, because of him, Stiles was next.

"Come on sweetie, don't you want to know if your mate is safe? If he's okay?" Derek chest seized until he wasn't breathing. Stiles had to be okay. Not just because it meant he wasn't to blame, but because it was Stiles. His Stiles. If something was wrong, he would've felt it. Right?

"If you hurt anyone in my pack…" Kate sneered, almost disgusted at how he pretended to care for anyone who wasn't Stiles. It was better if he didn't care, anyways. They might not have to suffer or die, then-because of him.

"You mean if I hurt Stiles." Control he had to keep his goddamn control. But what did he care? So what if the pack knew he cared about Stiles? So what if the entire fucking world knew!? It didn't matter anymore, Stiles would never love him again-not after this. The least he could do was get Stiles out of the mess he'd forced him into.

"Yes, I do." He felt his pack hold their breaths-they wouldn't be his pack for much longer. Screw it all! What did he care? They'd all want nothing to do with him after this, after seeing what being close to him did to people. Especially Stiles. God, his chest ached at that though. He was going to lose Stiles over this, and even worse he deserved it. It was because of him, after all.

"You're right, sweetie." Derek knew he should control himself and temper his voice but he didn't want to anymore. "If you touch Stiles, I will torture you, Katherine. I will make your life a living hell, show you pain you never knew existed, and when I'm finished? When you're begging for death? I'll burn you-and you'll see just how fun it is." There was not an ounce of untruthfulness in his words and everyone there could tell. His pack was afraid of him, now, but why did it matter? It was better that way-they'd keep their distance if they were afraid. And Kate was afraid too, he could smell it.

"You care a lot about your precious love." She sounded downright jealous. Well too fucking bad for her. She could go to hell for all he cared-he wasn't her prey anymore.

"Where. Is. He." It wasn't a question, not anymore, but Kate somehow kept the act together just enough to laugh and taunt him a little more.

"I guess you'll never know, sweetie." But that was too damn far. Before he even realized what he was doing, Derek had shifted and pinned the she-devil against the cement wall over a foot off the ground. She should've been able to match his strength and his training. She should've fought back-harder than the weak struggle he was witnessing-but it didn't matter. Nothing she did compared to his newfound strength.

They should have been near equals. But with Stiles on the line, it wasn't just Derek who was angry. His wolf raged inside him, crying out and keening every time his mind drifted to Stiles, and overwhelming him with anger and bloodthirst when he focused on Kate. It was his wolf who pinned her there, not even flinching at her clawing and her punches. He could see the deep red of his eyes reflected back in hers but he wasn't scared.

For the first time since the fire, he didn't hold back.

"Where is he, Katherine." She didn't answer, just coughed, but he refused to put her down. His wolf refused to let her go, or even loosen his grip. If it had been Derek she'd threatened, he would've taken it. But this was Stiles and no way in hell was he letting her hurt Stiles too.

"Where!" She choked out something resembling a word but it wasn't an answer he wanted. He pinned her harder, his claws digging into the side of her neck and drawing blood with ease. Maybe they were similar-but that meant he could hurt her like she'd hurt him.

"Where Katherine!" He couldn't tell anymore if her face was blue from trying to turn or from being strangled. But it didn't really matter. His wolf wasn't going to stop when Stiles wasn't safe and the human part of him didn't want to stop-he loved this in a sick, twisted way because it was finally reversed. She was the one at his mercy.

And he didn't feel merciful.

"Derek!" He ignored whoever said his name, probably Scott. They wanted him to stop but he didn't care-the damage was already done. None of them would ever see him for anything more than a monster-pushing her hard enough to save Stiles wouldn't change that.

"Cel- The cellar!" God he wanted to hurt her. He wanted to watch her squirm and suffer and pay for everything she had ever done to him and the people he cared about. But he couldn't.

The second she'd said the word, his wolf took over. And as much as his wolf wanted revenge for his family, his wolf wanted Stiles more. His hand released and she hit the ground with a thud, whining something about revenge but at that point it didn't matter. She could take her best shot.

Before the blood had even begun to drip off his claws, he tore open the door to the old cellar beneath the Hale house. He hadn't been down here since… Since he'd brought Kate down here to show her his wolf. Of course.

"Mmph?" Stiles. He was across the cellar and on his knees in an instant. Pale hazel rings met his and for the first time in as long as he could remember, Derek was overcome with relief.

"Hey, it's okay. You're okay, love." With his wrists unbound, Stiles tore the gag from his mouth. Derek braced himself for the yelling, for the rambling questions and the inevitable pain, but Stiles threw his arms around his neck and hugged him tight enough to steal his breath away.

"It's okay, love, I promise you're okay now." Stiles just hugged him. After a second, Derek surrendered and hugged him back, clutching the human to his chest the way his wolf begged him to. And, just for that moment, it felt so incredibly good he almost smiled.

Until he remembered. Stiles didn't know yet and he would find out sooner rather than later. His chest ached and throbbed in rhythm with Stiles' heartbeat when he realized this might be the last time he ever held Stiles like this. He clutched him tighter, inhaling the scent he knew and loved that was just Stiles. His Stiles.

"That's… that's not yours is it? Your blood, I mean?" The concern in Stiles' voice was actually endearing. God he was going to miss trusting that concern, knowing that it was genuinely out of love.

"No, Kate's." Stiles nuzzled his neck, kissing his pulse point the way he knew Derek loved.

"Good. She had it coming." Derek didn't dare let himself hope. There was no way Stiles would still love him, not after what he did.

"Der… Why do Scott and Issac look like they're going to shit themselves?" This was it. He knew he should let go and tell the truth now. It wasn't fair to Stiles to keep him here when he knew he wouldn't want to me if he knew. But he couldn't make himself let go. Knowing he was going to lose the one person he'd let himself love after all this time only made him hug Stiles tighter.

"Der, it's okay." It wasn't okay-he was losing the best thing that had ever happened to him. "They're scared because of what you did to Kate, aren't they?" How the…? Derek had to bitterly laugh because Stiles just knew. It was horrible and it didn't make anything at all better but of course Stiles knew-it was Stiles.

"You will be too." He shouldn't have said that. Stiles was going to pull away soon and he'd feel that cold emptiness he'd gotten so used to after Laura died. It wouldn't matter why Derek did it or that he'd gotten Stiles out. Derek was the reason he'd been in that situation anyway; no one in their right mind would stay with someone who was a walking time bomb.

Stiles laughed.

"Don't be ridiculous, Der. I couldn't look that stupid if I tried." Could Stiles really not hate him, not be scared of him? Was it really possible?

"It was for you." When he didn't laugh or change his tone at the joke, Stiles met his eyes.

"I know. Whatever it is, babe, she deserved it. I'm not afraid of you-even if those dipshits are." That goofy, ridiculously-sure-of-himself smile that couldn't be anything but genuine. "I love you, remember?" Derek did remember-very, very well. It was one of the few memories he'd engraved in every corner of his brain because he never wanted to forget it.

"I love you too, Stiles." In his arms, his boyfriend grinned up at him. He maybe have been a little bruised but with his messy hair, Stiles just looked like a wild child from the seventies.

"Besides," Bourbon eyes twinkled-not at him, but for him. "The whole big bad wolf thing is kind of hot."

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